Improvement of friable callus production of Boerhaavia paniculata Rich and the investigation of its lipid profile by GC/MS.

In this study, a protocol to induce high amount of friable callus of Boerhaavia paniculata RICH and a lipidomics technique were applied to investigate the profile of lipids to relate to those present in the roots of this plant that presented anti-inflammatory activity in the crude hexane extract. The callus culture was induced from seeds in solidified Murashige and Skoog medium containing different amounts of glucose and different concentrations of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. The explants were kept in a germination chamber at 30±2°C with a photoperiod of 16 h under light intensity of 27 µmol m-2 s-1 for 4 weeks. The best results for friable callus formation and development of the biomass were obtained in the treatment containing 2.26 µM 2.4-D and glucose (1.5 %; w/v). Lipidomics techniques were applied in hexane fraction showing higher concentrations of the steroids ß-sitosterol (3.53 mg/100 g dc-dry cells), and fatty acids, especially 2-hydroxy-tetracosanoic acid (0.34 mg/100 g dc), eicosanoic acid (86.25 mg/100 g dc), stearic acid (420.83 mg/100 g dc), tetradecanoic acid (10.74 mg/100 g dc) and linoleic acid (100.61 mg/100 g dc). The lipid profile of callus versus that found in the roots of wild plant is described in this work.

DNA barcode ITS effectively distinguishes the medicinal plant Boerhavia diffusa from its adulterants.

Boerhavia diffusa (B. diffusa), also known as Punarnava, is an indigenous plant in India and an important component in traditional Indian medicine. The accurate identification and collection of this medicinal herb is vital to enhance the drug's efficacy and biosafety. In this study, a DNA barcoding technique has been applied to identify and distinguish B. diffusa from its closely-related species. The phylogenetic analysis was carried out for the four species of Boerhavia using barcode candidates including nuclear ribosomal DNA regions ITS, ITS1, ITS2 and the chloroplast plastid gene psbA-trnH. Sequence alignment revealed 26% polymorphic sites in ITS, 30% in ITS1, 16% in ITS2 and 6% in psbA-trnH, respectively. Additionally, a phylogenetic tree was constructed for 15 species using ITS sequences which clearly distinguished B. diffusa from the other species. The ITS1 demonstrates a higher transition/transversion ratio, percentage of variation and pairwise distance which differentiate B. diffusa from other species of Boerhavia. Our study revealed that ITS and ITS1 could be used as potential candidate regions for identifying B. diffusa and for authenticating its herbal products.

Efeito da aplicação de maravilha (Mirabilis jalapa L. ), primavera (Bougainvillea spectabilis L. ) e isolados de Trichoderma na produção de alface / Effect of four o'clock flowers (Mirabilis jalapa L. ), bougainvillea (Bougainvillea spectabilis L. ) and Trichoderma spp. isolates in production of lettuce

Objetivou-se com esse trabalho avaliar o efeito de extratos foliares de primavera (Bougainvillea spetabilis L.) e maravilha (Mirabilis jalapa L.) e de Trichoderma spp., isoladamente ou em combinação, no manejo de viroses e na produção de alface. Os ensaios foram conduzidos em área de produção de hortaliças folhosas no município de Pinhalzinho/SP. O delineamento experimental foi de blocos casualizados, com dez tratamentos comparados com controle químico convencional. Foram observadas reduções de 18 por cento e 32 por cento na população de bactérias da rizosfera nas plantas de alface tratadas com o isolado IB18/22 e extrato de primavera + isolados de Trichoderma spp., respectivamente. Verificou-se que o extrato de maravilha estimulou o aumento do número de UFC/g da população de fungos. Entretanto, não houve diferença significativa na massa fresca da parte aérea e, apesar da pressão de inóculo e da alta densidade populacional de insetos vetores de vírus no local, não foi constatada a ocorrência de viroses, com exceção do espessamento de nervuras, que ocorreu em menor número em plantas tratadas, comparadas as do controle. Economicamente, houve 27,8 por cento de lucratividade e margem bruta de 38,5 por cento, indicando a viabilidade do uso de ferramentas de base ecológica no cultivo de alface. Além disso, os produtos usados são de fácil aquisição, seguros em termos de aplicação, meio ambiente e para o consumidor.

The aim of the work was to evaluate the effect of leaf extracts of bougainvillea (Bougainvillea spetabilis L.) and of four o'clock flowers (Mirabilis jalapa L.) plants and Trichoderma spp., alone or in combination, on viruses management and lettuce production. The tests were conducted in a producing area in Pinhalzinho-SP. The experimental design was randomized blocks with ten treatments in comparison with conventional chemical control. Reductions of 18 percent and 32 percent in the bacterial population of the lettuce rhizosphere treated with IB18/22 isolate and bougainvillea extract + Trichoderma spp. isolates, respectivelly, were observed. Four o'clock plant leaf extract stimulated growth of CFU / g number of fungi population. However, no significant change in fresh mass and size of lettuce was observed, and despite the inoculum pressure and high population density of virus vector insects in place, the occurrence of viruses was not found, except for big-vein syndrome which was higher in control than in treated plants. Economically, 27.8 percent net profit and 38.5 percent gross profit margin were verified, indicating that the use of ecological tools in lettuce crops is feasible. Moreover, the products are easy to obtain, safe to apply and safe for environment and human consumption.

The systematic utility of floral and vegetative fragrance in two genera of nyctaginaceae.

We examined relationships between fragrance and phylogeny using a number of approaches to coding fragrance data and comparing the hierarchical information in fragrance data with the phylogenetic signal in a DNA sequence data set. We first used distance analyses to determine which coding method(s) best distinguishes species while grouping conspecifics. Results suggest that interspecific differences in fragrance composition were maximized by coding as presence/absence of fragrance compounds and biosynthetic pathways rather than when quantitative information was also included. Useful systematic information came from both compounds and pathways and from fragrance emitted by both floral and vegetative tissues. The coding methods that emerged from the distance analyses as best distinguishing species were then adapted for use in phylogenetic analysis. Although hierarchical signal among fragrance data sets was congruent, this signal was highly incongruent with the phylogenetic signal in the DNA sequence data. Notably, topologies inferred from fragrance data sets were congruent with the DNA topology only in the most distal portions (e.g., sister group pairs or closely related species that had similar fragrance profiles were often recovered by analyses of fragrance). Examination of consistency and retention indices for individual fragrance compounds and pathways as optimized onto one of the most-parsimonious trees inferred from DNA data revealed that although most compounds were homoplastic, some compounds were perfectly congruent with the DNA phylogeny. In particular, compounds and pathways found in a few taxa were less homoplastic than those found in many taxa. Pathways that synthesize few volatiles also seem to have lower homoplasy than those that produce many. Although fragrance data as a whole may not be useful in phylogeny reconstruction, these data can provide additional support for clades reconstructed with other types of characters. Factors other than phylogeny, including pollinator interactions, also likely influence fragrance composition.